Letters of Opinion
canon, classic fiction, classic Romance, genre criticism
41 Comments
Specifically, what makes a Romance novel endure? Think about the hundreds of Romance novels published each month – in a multitude of subgenres and formats – and the thousands that adds up to each year. Where do all these books… more
Letters of Opinion
fandom, Fantasy, gender, genre criticism, patriarchy, sexism, sexual harassment, vloggers
17 Comments
We all know that the teens represent one of the most powerful – if not the most powerful – consumer markets. Teen girls, especially, are the unremitting focus of advertising, in part, perhaps, because of their vulnerability to social messaging…. more
Letters of Opinion
catharsis, comfort reading, genre criticism
After my post on the HEA and HFN, I got to thinking about “comfort reading.” We talk a lot about comfort reading in Romance, even though I suspect we don’t share a universal definition for the term. For example, a… more
Publishing News
Christian publishing, female sexuality, genre criticism, Maya-Banks, religion, reproduction, women's health
The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary – Okay, this is one of the most riveting and inspiring stories I’ve read in a while (which may say something about how little I’ve been able to read lately). Arunachalam Muruganantham, who has no… more
Letters of Opinion
genre criticism, genre definition, HEA
Not that many years ago, there was a push within RWA to narrow the definition of Romance to one man and one woman. Although the campaign was pretty obviously a fear and ignorance-based reaction to the idea of same sex and… more
Letters of Opinion
book length, genre criticism, Reader Habits, value
I was being equal parts careless and provocative, when, the other day on Twitter, I tweeted the following: 1088 pages is just too long a book no matter how skilled a writer you are. Agree or disagree? Quite honestly, I… more
Letters of Opinion
definition, genre criticism, HEA, Romance, romantic
Sunita has a nice post up at her personal blog detailing some of her thoughts about a conversation she and I had the other day about the difference between a Romance (objective genre classification) and a book one finds romantic… more
Letters of Opinion
book reviewing, bullying, commercial speech, genre criticism
By way of introduction So I’ve been listening to Anthony Bourdain read his own book, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and… more
Letters of Opinion
book recommendations, commercial speech, genre criticism, marketing
Last week I talked about the way the personal and the professional often overlap in the Romance community around authors reviewing and recommending books. At one end is the elevation of what seems essentially a concern about personal relationships among… more
Book Reviews/ Letters of Opinion
author reviewing, genre criticism, professionalism, Twitter
We talk a lot here about what it means to be a Romance reader, but not as much about what it means to be an author. For example, what does it mean to be an “aspiring author”? In an academic… more